Preston Sturges

 Preston Sturges, born Edmund Preston Biden (August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959)

1941, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film The Great McGinty, his first of three nominations in the category. Sturges took the screwball comedy format of the 1930s to another level, writing dialogue that, heard today, is often surprisingly naturalistic, mature, and ahead of its time, despite the farcical situations. It is not uncommon for a Sturges character to deliver an exquisitely turned phrase and take an elaborate pratfall within the same scene. A tender love scene between Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve was enlivened by a horse, which repeatedly poked its nose into Fonda's head. Prior to Sturges, other figures in Hollywood (such as Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, and Frank Capra) had directed films from their own scripts, however Sturges is often regarded as the first Hollywood figure to establish success as a screenwriter and then move into directing his own scripts, at a time when those roles were separate. From 1940 through 1944 he wrote and directed his greatest comedies, including "The Great McGinty" (1940), "Christmas in July" (1940), "The Lady Eve" (1941), "Sullivan's Travels" (1942), "The Palm Beach Story" (1942), "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (1944), and "Hail the Conquering Hero" (1944). In 1944 he left Paramount Studios following prolonged disputes and formed a new partnership with entrepreneur Howard Hughes to establish a film company called California Pictures. However, his career began to decline by the late 1940's. In the early 1950's he made several attempts at writing Broadway musicals but they proved unsuccessful.

Beset upon by the Internal Revenue Service for delinquent taxes, he began spending more time in Europe. During his life, he was married four times and had three sons. Sturges died of a heart attack at the Algonquin Hotel while writing his autobiography, he was 60 years old. He is buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, NY.